


Why is Valentine's Day so important to you anyway?

by sanvers_shipper



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 10:42:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9652304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanvers_shipper/pseuds/sanvers_shipper
Summary: Maggie and Alex don't see eye to eye on Valentine's Day, but eventually their disagreement brings them closer together. Story is about the events leading up to Valentine's Day, not actual festivities.





	1. Chapter 1

Snuggled up on the couch, Maggie was enthusiastically sharing the story of her triumph at Girl Scout camp when she managed to start the campfire, after even the counselors had failed. “And ever since then I’ve loved camping,” she finished, still beaming.

Alex smiled lovingly, finding Maggie particularly adorable as she relived her glory days. “I know I’m new at this,” Alex said. “But I feel like that story is very gay.”

Maggie nodded. “Yup, very gay indeed.” She leaned in to kiss Alex to remind her just how gay she was. “So what about you?” She asked. “Since it’s become storytime, it’s only fair.”

“Hmmm,” Alex wracked her brain for something to share.

“What about high school, Danvers? I’m dying to know what you were like then.” Alex cringed. “Or… not?” Maggie asked, giving her an out. Alex still didn’t say anything. “We could go back to kissing?” Maggie suggested.

“The mention of high school was a bit of a mood killer,” Alex admitted.

“That bad, huh?” She asked.

“Not that bad. Just far from the typical high school experience. I feel like… like I missed out on a lot.” Maggie nodded. “But I think I’ve had enough deep conversation for tonight. Want to pick a movie?” Alex asked, offering the remote to Maggie.

“Sure,” Maggie replied. She began to scroll through Netflix. Alex got up to make some popcorn. “I’m guessing you’re not in the mood for the Breakfast Club?” Maggie teased.

“You’re so funny,” Alex said, rolling her eyes.

“Just get back over here,” Maggie said. “I want to snuggle.”

“Well you better be nice then,” Alex threatened, sticking out her tongue playfully as she settled back onto the couch.

“I’m so nice,” Maggie replied, kissing Alex on the cheek. “I picked one of your favorites.”

The opening credits began. “Easy A!” Alex exclaimed and cuddled up next to Maggie.

“So when you first watched this, I’m guessing you didn’t realize half the reason you liked it was because you probably had a major crush on Emma Stone?”

Alex laughed. “How did you know?”

Maggie shrugged. “I may have a bit of a thing for her too,” she admitted with a chuckle.

 

The next morning the two woke up and drank their coffee together, enjoying the quiet Sunday morning. It was a rare treat that they both were so relaxed. Alex put down her phone and looked up at Maggie adoringly. Maggie, feeling her girlfriend’s stare, put down her phone as well.

“Something on your mind, Danvers?” She asked with a smirk.

“Well…” I was wondering what you are doing this Thursday?”

“I don’t know. Work?”

“After work,” Alex prompted, not letting Maggie’s lack of excitement put a damper on hers.

“Sleep?” Maggie replied with a shrug. Now the smile had left Alex’s face. Now Alex was glaring at her girlfriend. “I know it’s Valentine’s Day, Alex,” Maggie said. “But that’s really not my thing.”

Alex’s face fell. She was no longer irritated, just disappointed. She began chastising herself internally. Suddenly feeling insecure, she stared down at the table. “Okay,” Alex conceded easily. “I know it’s silly. Never mind. Forget I mentioned it.”

Maggie was starting to feel bad. Though not bad enough to deal with the overpriced prix fixe Valentine’s Day menus and the gushy couples she loathed. “Date night on Saturday instead?” Maggie suggested. Alex still looked… Maggie couldn’t quite read it. Rejected? Discouraged? Distressed? Maggie reached out and put her hand over Alex’s. “I’d love to show you how much I love you on another night…” She reassured. Alex nodded, but Maggie could still sense that something still wasn’t right.

“Want to go to the Farmer’s Market?” Maggie suggested.

“Nah, I ought to go stop by Kara’s. I bailed on her for Sister Night this week, when someone called me telling me she needed to see me,” Alex teased.

“What can I say… when the mood strikes…” Maggie replied. Alex swatted her on the shoulder gently and chuckled.

“Hey!” Maggie objected, though she was happy to see they’d fallen back into a normal rhythm. “Come back for dinner later?” Maggie asked. “I’ll make Chicken Parm…”

Alex’s eyes lit up at that. “Okay, see you later,” she replied and kissed Maggie on the cheek before leaving.

 

Alex took out her key and opened the door to Kara’s place. “Hello?” She called when she found the living room and kitchen empty.

Kara scrambled out of her room in her pajamas. “Alex, hi,” Kara said nervously.

“Are you okay?” Alex asked, suspicion clear in her voice. Kara caved immediately.

“Yes, I’m fine. I just umm.. I have...uh…a guest,” she managed to spit out.

“A guest?” Alex repeated eyebrows raised. “Sorry,” she replied, taken aback. “I guess I should have called.” Alex was headed to the door when she heard footsteps come from Kara’s room. She looked up to find a now fully-clothed (thankfully) Lena Luthor.

“No, no,” Lena objected. “Stay. I just had a bit too much wine last night when Kara and I had movie night so I decided to crash here. I was just headed out anyway,” she lied convincingly. “See you soon Kara!” Lena said and quickly exited.

“So… what brought you by this morning?” Kara asked.

“No, no, no,” Alex replied grabbing Kara’s shoulder. “Not so fast. Spill.”

“Yes, Alex. Lena spent the night. Like she said, she had some wine and didn’t want to drive home…”

“And?”

“And we made out a little,” Kara admitted, eyes glued to the floor. “But that’s all!” She exclaimed looking back at Alex seriously. “And honestly? I like her. A lot.” Alex grinned and Kara continued. “But I’m not sure what all this means and I’m feeling overwhelmed and I really would rather not talk about it all right now. So on to you.” Kara prepared herself a bowl of honey nut cheerios with milk, as she waited for Alex to begin. She gestured the box to Alex, who shook her head. Kara, noticing her sister was still silent, tried again. “How about you tell me why you’re here instead of having a nice afternoon at Maggie’s?”

“I’m going back there for dinner tonight,” Alex shot back defensively. “But I hadn’t seen you much this week and I wanted to check in. Clearly, I made the right call. I had a lot to catch up on with you.”

“Try again,” Kara prompted.

Alex sighed. “Maggie doesn’t want to do anything for Valentine’s Day,” she said quietly.

“Aww and you do because you’re secretly a romantic,” Kara cooed.

“I will walk out that door,” Alex threatened.

“Okay, okay,” Kara said. “What exactly happened?”

“I brought it up and she just shot it down.”

“No explanation?”

“It’s not her ‘thing,’” Alex replied using air quotes.

Kara rolled her eyes. “Well did you tell her it was important to you?”

Alex shook her head. Kara gave her a “stop-repressing-your-emotions-and-talk-to-your-damn-girlfriend” glare. “I don’t want to rock the boat,” Alex admitted. “Especially, after I was so stupid when you went to that other universe.”

“Alex, you made a mistake. That doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to your emotions or feelings about this entirely different issues.”

“Ugh, feelings,” Alex scoffed.

“You want to know what I think?” Kara asked.

“No,” Alex replied grumpily.

“Well,” Kara began, sunny grin spread across her face, “I think you need to tell Maggie _why_ it’s important to you.”

“I hate that you know me so well,” Alex muttered.

“I’ll take that as a thank you.” Kara hugged her sister. “Now, go back to Maggie’s and make up.”

“Okay Kara, but give me a call when you’re ready to talk about Lena!” Alex said as she walked out the door.

“Bye!” Kara shouted nearly shutting the door in Alex’s face.


	2. Chapter 2

Alex knocked on the door to Maggie’s apartment, a box from Francesca’s Bakery in her hands. Maggie answered the door greeted Alex. She looked at the box quizzically. 

“Well you were making my favorite so I thought I’d bring yours,” Alex explained, giving Maggie the box.

“Cannolis?!” Maggie exclaimed. “You’re the best,” she said setting them down on the counter and giving Alex a kiss.

Alex took a deep breath. This was going well so far. Maggie looked at her watch. “I wasn’t expecting you so early though. It’s only 4:00.”

“Sorry,” Alex mumbled. “I should’ve called.”

“No no no,” Maggie quickly replied. “You’re always welcome. I was just surprised. I thought you’d spend the whole day with Kara.”

“Well,” Alex said, avoiding eye contact. “Kara sent me over here because she thought I needed to talk to you.”

“Uh oh,” Maggie said, sitting down on the couch.  
  
Alex joined her. “No, it’s not an uh-oh. It’s just…. I just wanted to talk to you a little bit more about Valentine’s Day. 

“Alex, I thought we,” Maggie sighed. The annoyance on her face was clear to Alex.

“We did but I want to know why,” Alex pushed back.

“Why what?”

“Why are you so determined not to celebrate Valentine’s Day?” Alex asked.

“Why are you so determined TO celebrate it?” Maggie asked back.

“I asked you first,” Alex replied.  
  
“Really, Danvers?” Maggie glared at her girlfriend. Alex would be happy to answer her question. Alex knew she’d end up telling Maggie why this was important to her, but she wanted Maggie to go first. If Maggie had a real reason she hated the holiday, Alex wanted to know.

“I don’t know,” Maggie replied with frustration. Alex waited. “I always thought it was stupid. I mean first as a kid it was always a stupid day when all the girls were extra boy crazy. Plus, the idea in general, one day for people to express their love to each other?  It’s just cheesy.”

“Okay. So cheesy and heteronormative?” Alex asked, verifying she’d correctly processed the rant. Maggie nodded. Alex inched closer to Maggie on the sofa and took her hand. “Well I understand that. It is a cheesy and usually a heteronormative holiday. But if we celebrate it, that kind of makes up for some of the heteronormativity,” Alex paused. “And the cheesiness. I know it’s stupid but I really want that,” she said quietly.

“Okay,” Maggie conceded. She knew how hard it was for Alex to ask for anything, admit to wanting or needing anything. She could see how important it was for Alex. But she needed to know why. “But can you tell me why this is so important to you?” She asked kindly, with genuine curiosity.

 “Remember when you asked me about high school?” Maggie nodded. “Well it’s not like anything really horrible happened to me. It’s just, I was kind of… a loner? Yeah, I loved my science classes, even some of my other classes, but I struggled with the social stuff. I mean I had a few friends and well I told you about Vicky. But I never really felt like I fit in anywhere. My goal was always just to keep my head down and get out of there” Alex paused and Maggie waited patiently. “And it wasn’t that big of a deal,” Alex assured. “I spent a lot of time with Kara. Vicky would come over sometimes. But I never really did the traditional high school thing. No parties. No pep rallies. No homecoming dances. No prom. And I’m embarrassed to admit that I cared,” Alex admitted. “But I did.” Maggie snuggled closer next to Alex on the couch. “I think, I think that’s part of why I had my party girl phase in college. I just wanted to feel normal for once.” 

Maggie smiled. “And Valentine’s Day would make you feel normal,” she said, finally getting it. Alex nodded. “Thanks for explaining it to me,” she said and kissed Alex on the cheek. “Can I ask you a question?” Alex nodded again. “Did you ever, you know, think about going with Vicky to any of those ‘traditional high school’ things?”

Alex chuckled. “Well…” she began.

“I think I just hit the jackpot,” Maggie interrupted with a mischievous smile.

Alex playfully slapped her shoulder and continued. “Freshman year, I did go to the homecoming dance with Vicki and a group of her friends. We did the whole spending hours hanging out and getting ready, all that. That part was fun.”

“And then?” Maggie asked.

“And then we got to the dance and all the guys showed up and flirted with them. Next thing they’re all paired off on the dance floor swaying to ‘A Moment Like This’ and I'm running to the bathroom to dodge Paul Kaufman.”

Maggie laughed. “I’m sorry, babe. So that was the end of school dances for Alex Danvers?”

“Sort of,” Alex mumbled. Maggie didn’t press further. She just waited. Eventually, Alex continued. “Junior year, Vicki’s boyfriend broke up with her a few weeks before Prom. She was devastated. I still remember the whole conversation we had, as she sobbed in my arms.” Alex thought back to that moment more than a decade ago. It still made her chest ache a bit just thinking about it.

_“I hate boys and I hate the prom and I hate everything,” Vicki managed to choke back as tears streamed down her face._

_“I know, Vick, I know,” I consoled. “It’s going to be okay, I promise. Todd was a jerk,” she said. Vicki started crying harder and I realized I’d madea mistake, even if I had been telling the truth. “I’m sorry, not a jerk. But you deserve better, Vicki, so much better.”_

_“But I love him,” she whined. It felt like a knife to Alex’s heart._

_“I know,” I said and I began rubbing circles on her back. “It’s going to hurt for a while. But I’m here for you. You know what we’re going to do. __ Instead of prom, we’ll have a night of wallowing, just like in Gilmore Girls. Complete with sucky movies, raw cookie dough and pepperoni pizza.How about that?”_ __  
  
        Vicki had finally managed to stop crying. She sighed. “You’re sweet, Al, but I really really want to go to Prom.”

_“Okay,” I said, regrouping, “Why don’t you ask your lab partner Anthony? He’s a sophomore so no one’s asked him and he totally has a crush              on you. He’d definitely yes and treat you right.”_

_Vicki shook her head. “Alex, I told you. I hate boys. They’re so stupid. I’m done with them.”_

 

“She really said that?” Maggie interrupted the story. 

“Oh, it gets worse,” Alex replied.

 

_“Besides if I go with a different boy, I’ll just be thinking about Todd,” Vicki admitted. She paused. “Alex?”_

_“Yeah?” I answered.  
_ _  
_ “Will you go to Prom with me?”

_I just stared at her dumbfounded for far too long before answering. “You know how I feel about school dances,” I finally spat out._

__ _“Come on, Al. For me? Please.” She begged._

__ _I didn’t stand a chance. “Of course,” I said, smiling at her._

“You said earlier you’ve never been to Prom,” Maggie said, putting the pieces together.

“I didn’t. The day before Prom, Todd showed up at her house with a boom box ‘Say Anything’ style and won her back.”

  
“And she just bailed on you?”

“She thought I didn’t want to go anyway. I mean I hated school dances right? She didn’t know that I’d bought her a corsage or that I was planning to surprise her with a fancy dinner beforehand,” Alex said. “Platonically, of course,” she added.  
  
“Of course,” Maggie agreed, laughing. 

Alex shrugged. “So Prom night was a night of wallowing, after all. Full of sucky movies, raw cookie dough and pepperoni pizza,”Alex said. “Oh and potstickers, to thank Kara for consoling me without asking too many questions.”

“Come here,” Maggie said, she pulled her girlfriend close and held her. Eventually, she pulled away enough that she could look Alex in the eye. “We’re going to have one hell of a Valentine’s Day this year. I promise.”

Her heartache now gone, Alex looked at Maggie with complete adoration. “I love you,” she said.  
  
“I love you too, Alex.”

 


End file.
